Monday, July 23, 2012

Boy, 4, Killed By Stray Bullet While In Bronx Playground

A child's bicycle is seen in the foreground surrounded by evidence markers. (Photo: Wayne Carringtom)

Bronx

A 4-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet in a Bronx playground last night as two thugs, angry over a dispute following a basketball game, began firing at each other, law-enforcement sources said, according to the New York Post.

Two men were also wounded in the shootout — which occurred around 9:40 p.m. at the playground, where about 100 people had gathered for the basketball game and a barbecue.

Lloyd Morgan, Jr. 4, was shot in the head was shot in the head Sunday nigth while playing in a playground at the NYCHA Forest Houses in the Morrisania section of the Bronx near the corner of E. 165th Street and Tinton Avenue. Two men were also shot.

The men, 21 and 28 years old, were in stable condition.

The shooting took place at the Forest Houses on East 165th Street in Morrisania. The basketball game was part of a tournament for a teenage girl who was stabbed last year, residents said.

Lloyd was shot while playing near the basketball court. He was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where he died.

"This is my second child that's been taken away from me," said the boy's father Lloyd Morgan Sr.

Morgan Sr., 26, who works as a private security guard for the city in Long Island City, said his son is up to greet him when he returns home at 6 a.m. "bouncing the ball. That's all he wanted to do."

The little boy was set to attend the Bronx Lighthouse Academy in the fall, his father said.

Morgan Sr. said he gets stopped "on a daily basis."

"It's really not working if you ask me. We have more people locked up for dime bags of weed than for actual guns," Morgan Sr. said.

Meanwhile, at the scene of the shooting, witnesses descibed mayhem.

“People were screaming and the paramedics ran to him,” said witness Angelo Rodriguez, 53. “They came with the stretcher and ran him to the ambulance.”

State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, who rushed to the scene, said the tragedy forced him to rethink his criticism of the NYPD’s policy of stop-and-frisk.

“There is a 4-year-old dead. Now we should really consider not stopping stop-and-frisk,” Stevenson said.

“I’m going to have to start supporting stop-and-frisk.

“We need to give the police leverage to use stop-and-frisk. They should be allowed to do it,” he said.

The bloodshed began when an argument erupted at the end of the game, which featured a team with the name The Ghetto Angels, authorities said.

“The basketball game started on the wrong foot,” said Stevenson. “It’s a bad name of a team for starters.

“The basketball game ended, people dispersed and shots rang out,” added Stevenson, who represents the area.

A woman, who asked not to be identified, said she “heard shooting and people screaming. They were screaming and running.

Lloyd Morgan, 4, was pronounced dead after he was shot at a New York City playground on Sunday. (Image: NBC)

“It sounded like a machine gun or something. I would guess 15 or 17 shots.”

Rodriguez said shell casings were found in a dimly lit area behind the playground.

The 28-year-old victim was struck in the stomach and the 21-year-old was wounded in the arm.

It wasn’t immediately clear if those men were innocent victims or targets.

Sources said a 9mm and a .45-caliber gun were used in the shootout.

Additional reporting by Natasha Velez

Police are investigating the death of a 4-year-old boy in The Bronx, who was killed Sunday after being struck by a stray bullet. Lloyd Morgan, Jr. turned 4 in May according to his mother. (Photo: Wayne Carringtom)